If you were looking for an excuse to start your day with a bowl of Cocoa Krispies topped with chocolate milk, science has your back. A study published recently in Frontiers in Nutrition looked at the effects of cocoa and cocoa-derived food (read: chocolate) and found that they have "the potential to counteract¹ cognitive² decline and sustain cognitive abilities."

如果你在找一个理由使你可以每天吃一碗淋了巧克力牛奶的可可亚脆米花，科学可以做你的后盾。最近，营养学术前沿系列期刊发表了一篇关于可可粉和可可类食品（也就是巧克力）功效的研究报告，该研究发现它们有“抵制认知能力衰退以及维持认知能力的潜能。”

The secret lies in flavanols, a class of natural compounds that has "neuroprotective effects" (meaning, it's good for your brain), and chocolate happens to be filled with the stuff. The study's authors, Valentina Socci and Michele Ferrara from the University of L'Aquila in Italy, found that participants showed improvements in memory and were better able to process visual information after having cocoa flavanols. The study also showed that, for women at least, cocoa actually counteracted³ the cognitive impairment that comes with sleep deprivation⁴.

这种功效的奥秘就在于黄烷醇，一种起“神经保护作用”（意思就是它对你的大脑有好处）的天然化合物，而巧克力恰好富含这种物质。这份研究报告的作者是来自意大利阿布鲁佐大学的瓦伦蒂娜·索奇和米歇尔·费拉拉，他们发现，研究参与者的记忆力有所改善，而且在摄入可可黄烷醇之后，他们能够更好地处理可视信息。这项研究还发现，至少对妇女来说，可可粉确实可以消减因睡眠不足而造成的认知损害。

This isn't just good news for college kids pulling all-nighters, though. In fact, the effects of cocoa flavanols were more easily seen in older populations, and particularly those who had already started to lose memory or suffered from other mild cognitive impairments. Long-term ingestion of cocoa flavanols (ranging from 5 days up to 3 months) improved attention, processing speed, working memory, and verbal fluency⁵. So maybe get your grandma an extra Whitman's Sampler the next time you see her.

这不仅仅是大学生们的喜讯，也是所有夜猫党的福音。事实上，可可黄烷醇的功效更容易在老年人群身上体现出来，特别是那些已经开始丧失记忆，或遭受其他轻度认知功能损害的人群。长期摄入可可黄烷醇（从5天到3个月）可以提高注意力、信息处理速度、工作记忆力以及语言流畅度。所以下次去看望外婆的时候，你可以送她一盒上好的惠特曼巧克力。